Donald Trump Personally Tried To Tamper With/Intimidate A Witness, Rep. Liz Cheney Discloses

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Following the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, Rep. Liz Cheney revealed that some witnesses reported receiving veiled threats from allies of former President Donald Trump to do “the right thing.” Jan. 6 committee may make criminal referral on witness tampering:

The congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack may make a criminal referral to the Justice Department recommending that anybody who tried to influence testimony be prosecuted, Representative Liz Cheney said in an interview broadcast on Thursday.

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“It gives us a real insight into how people around the former president are operating and to the extent to which they believe that they can affect the testimony of witnesses before the committee,” Cheney, a committee vice chair and one of two Republicans on the panel of nine, told ABC News.

“It’s something we take very seriously. And it’s something that people should be aware of. It’s a very serious issue, and I would imagine the Department Justice would be very interested in and we’ll take that very seriously as well,” she said.

Jan. 6 committee member Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat, echoed Cheney’s concerns, noting that Trump has raised hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Some of that money is being used to pay for lawyers for witnesses, and it’s not clear that that arrangement is one that is without coercion potential for some of those witnesses,” Lofgren said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday night.

“So let’s just say this: It’s a concern, and anyone who is trying to dissuade or tamper with witnesses should be on notice that that’s a crime and we are perfectly prepared to provide any evidence we have to the proper authorities.”

CNN later reported that a Meadows intermediary may have tried to influence Hutchinson’s testimony to January 6 committee, sources say:

One of people who may have been trying to influence Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony did so at the behest of former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to multiple sources familiar with information gathered by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

In one instance, Cheney said a witness received a call in which someone said: “(A person) let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.”

Multiple sources now tell CNN the witness was Hutchinson and the “person” referred to in the message, which was redacted in the version projected on a screen during the hearing, was Meadows.

The second example cited by the committee Tuesday — a witness statement detailing the pressure campaign from former President Donald Trump’s orbit — also involved Hutchinson, the sources told CNN.

“What they said to me is, as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I’m on the team. I’m doing the right thing. I’m protecting who I need to protect, you know, I’ll continue to stay in good graces in Trump World,” Cheney said at the hearing, relaying the witness statement that sources now say is Hutchinson. “And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just to keep that in mind as I proceed through my depositions and interviews with the committee.”

At the end of today’s January 6 Committee hearing, Rep. Liz Cheney disclosed that Donald Trump personally tried to engage in witness tampering/intimidation of a witness who has not publicly testified yet.

CNBC reports, Jan. 6 committee notifies DOJ that Trump tried tampering with one of its witnesses, Cheney says:

The House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 revealed that it told the Department of Justice that former President Donald Trump contacted one of its witnesses who hasn’t publicly testified yet.

“After our last hearing. President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation. A witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,” Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the committee, said on Tuesday.

“That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us. And this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice,” she added.

Legal experts were stunned on Tuesday when GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming once again dropped a bombshell on witness tampering during her closing statement as vice-chair of the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. ‘Only the guilty try to tamper with witnesses’: Legal experts weigh in on Liz Cheney’s latest bombshell (excerpt):

After the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) revealed the select committee has known about the call for a couple of days.

He said, “this has been an ongoing pattern, and we’re trying to send the message that witness tampering is a crime in the United States of America.”

Former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen wrote, “We already knew of multiple apparent incidents of witness intimidation. We just learned that President Trump may have attempted a 3rd.”‘

“18 USC 1512 punishes witness intimidation with fines, imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both,” Eisen noted.

“Liz Cheney is smart to put down a marker by publicly calling out Trump for reaching out to one of the Committee’s witnesses,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said.

Former prosecutor Katie Phang suggested that “Trump wasn’t calling to talk about the weather.”

“So, Trump tried to call a witness,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance noted. “The witness passed it on to their lawyer & the committee forwarded the information to DOJ. Former presidents are no more entitled to break the law by witness tampering than any other citizen.”

She added that “only the guilty try to tamper with witnesses.”

NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent said, “Witness tampering, attempted or otherwise, is a felony. Ask Roger Stone who was convicted of obstruction, impeding a congressional inquiry. Trump commuted his 40 month sentence before leaving office.”

“Wait, did Liz Cheney say Trump *called a witness* and that it’s been referred to the DOJ. Did this fool commit witness tampering THIS WEEK???” asked The Nation justice correspondent Elie Mystal.

This shows just how desperate this third-rate mafia boss is. Any real mafia boss would never do the dirty work himself, he would use a wise guy to intimidate a witness in order to maintain plausible deniability.

As Elie Mystal says, this fool picked up the phone and did it himself – and there will be a pin register of incoming and outgoing calls to confirm the phone contact. If this fool actualy left a message, there is a recording that will convict him.

And this is a new crime committed just in the past week. Donald Trump just can’t stop himself from criming, because his core being is a criminal.





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